While Germany's long-ruling center-right parties continue to offer more of the same, the Greens have recently emerged as a serious contender in the run-up to September's federal elections. Having successfully reformed itself, the party now has a credible claim to be able to reform Germany, too.
BERLIN – In the last 50 years, Germany has experienced three miracles. The one-time sick man of Europe became an Exportweltmeister (export champion). It also overcame its past (Vergangenheitsbewältigung). And it built a political and economic union in which its former enemies have become friends. But now the comfortable world forged by these miracles is crumbling, leaving Germany’s current governing party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), acting like a deer caught in headlights.
BERLIN – In the last 50 years, Germany has experienced three miracles. The one-time sick man of Europe became an Exportweltmeister (export champion). It also overcame its past (Vergangenheitsbewältigung). And it built a political and economic union in which its former enemies have become friends. But now the comfortable world forged by these miracles is crumbling, leaving Germany’s current governing party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), acting like a deer caught in headlights.